The sun is streaming in through the glass in the front door and through the skylight in our sunroom at the back, making our house look bright and inviting, which is especially great given Pam and I spent all morning cleaning the main floor so the house looks good. Mom took care of the cooking-up-a-storm part after asking if she could count on us to ensure the rest of the house looked amazing. Looking at the way the sun is pouring into the family room and highlighting the now-dusted side tables and white area rug, I'm thinking it really does.

Ding dong!

I stop, feet perched on the edge of the comforting softness of the white rug, and look over my shoulder at Pam, who's gathering up the open DVD cases by the TV. She opens a drawer in the entertainment centre, shoves the DVDs in and closes it shut with her foot.

She grins at me. "Ready?"

I hold out my arm and she steps in beside me as we walk to the front door together, united in our apprehension and sudden shyness. "Ready."

Mom comes hurrying out of the kitchen, a ball of excitement, wiping her hands on a towel. She gives out an "oops!", runs back to the kitchen and flashes back to our side, towel free, smoothing her hair to the sides of her face and smiling. "Thanks, girls, couldn't have done this without you!"

She throws open the door and before I can see the best friend who has been the voice on the phone for as long as I can remember, I'm attacked by a series of sounds so high-pitched they pierce my eardrums. I briefly wonder when I will be able to hear things again when my mom lets go of the woman she is hugging, steps back into the house, and declares breathlessly, "Girls, this is Lucy! Lucy, these are my girls!"

A woman with blond hair, sort of straw-like in texture and pulled back into a braid, steps into the house, a pile of duffel bags at her feet. Her cheeks are bright pink and she's grinning from ear to ear, her record-breaking smile contagious. I find myself smiling too as she opens her arms wide. "So glad to meet you!"

Pam and I both step forward at the same time, realize we've done this, stop at the same time, and then step forward again. Lucy laughs and closes the gap between us, wrapping us both in a group hug made funnier by her chuckles. I breathe in the smell of herbs – mint, I think, then realize it's basil – and step back, getting a sneak peek at Pam's bewildered but smiling face before I turn to Lucy and formally introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Caitlin. It's really great to meet you."

"I'm Pam, Caitlin's younger sister."

"You two look just like in your pictures!"

Mom sent her pictures? I guess that makes sense. I wonder which ones.

"Oh, I'm so glad to finally be meeting you! Now let me have the pleasure of introducing you."

The light behind her shifts and I realize someone else is standing in the doorway. Lucy moves to the side and Mom and the figure lean over to help her move bags out of the way.

"It's okay, it's okay, that's heavy—I've got it, Mom."

"Girls, this my son. He kindly offered to escort his mom on this trip."

Lucy's son straightens, now carrying three more duffel bags in addition to the cloth bags hanging off his shoulders. His posture starts to suffer a bit but he straightens and smiles, managing to sneak a hand out from under one of the bags.

"Hi, I'm Luke. Nice to meet you."

I shake his hand, startled by how comfortable he seems to be with the situation. He looks like he's got to be around my age, and even though I love my mom more than anything, even I wouldn't be super eager to spend two weeks away from home in another city with complete strangers. How did Lucy get her twenty-year-old son to want to be here, or at least to look like it?

"Hi, nice to meet you too." In the two seconds that our hands are touching, I notice they feel dry and rough. Pam leans in and shakes his hand too, her face straight, in polite business mode.

"Nice to meet you too," she echoes, stepping back beside me, reminding me we're both analyzing the situation and will probably sneak off later to compare mental notes.

Mom puts her arm around me and gestures to Lucy and Luke. "Please, come on in. I just finished making lunch, in case you're hungry. How was the drive?"

Lucy's smile fades and she tugs at her braid. "Luke drove, actually. It wasn't that bad, right, honey?"

Luke shrugs one of the bags up his shoulder. "No, not bad. I was surprised, actually. I didn't realize we were so close."

"How long did it take?" Mom asks.

Luke looks at his mom. "Maybe forty minutes? Probably thirty, without traffic."

"Ah, traffic." Mom rubs Pam's right shoulder, her arm warm against my back. "You probably don—I'm glad it wasn't bad." She lifts her arm over us and switches to putting her arm around Lucy. "Why don't we get you weary travellers a bite to eat?"

Lucy throws her arm around Mom, too. "That would be nice. Thanks, Hollie."

They turn and head for the kitchen, not realizing what's keeping me from following them and Pam. I hesitate, looking back at Luke, and call, "Mom?"

At the same time, Luke pipes up, "Uh, Mom? Where do you want me to put down the bags—" He stops and looks at me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off."

I shake my head. "No, it's okay, I was going to ask the same thing—"

Mom and Lucy stop, seconds from the kitchen. "Oh, yes." Mom claps her hands together. "You have options." She leans against the stair railing. "Max is on a business trip for a couple more weeks—"

"He is?" Lucy sounds concerned. "Hollie, we could have waited till he comes back. I don't want you to have too much on your plate."

Mom waves energetically. "No, no, I'm fine. I know exactly how the second half of my book is going to go, and Cat's home for a while too, we're fine." She points a finger. "And you know I'm as happy as you are to have you here."

Lucy smiles, looking relieved. "Okay."

"So, options. We have three bedrooms upstairs and a couch bed on this floor." She points to the couch in the living room right behind where Pam, Lucy and I are standing. Pam notices the drawer she closed earlier bounced open a bit and swiftly hurries over to close it. Mom rolls her eyes and smiles.

"Lucy and Luke, we're thinking you can each have one of the girls' rooms, and Cat and Pam will share the—"

"Oh, it's okay." Luke makes to lift his hands but the bags start to tip forward. I jerk forward to help but he catches them just in time, giving me a nod. "Thanks." He straightens. "How about Mom gets one of the rooms and I take the couch bed?"

Part of me is eternally grateful. I hated the idea of giving up my room—sometimes it's hard to be in there without Kitty, but it's harder not to be in there at all, feeling close to Kitty. It's probably my room Lucy will end up in because it's further from Mom's room, which gives her more privacy, but sleeping in Pam's room would feel like less of a change than sleeping down here.

"Oh, no," Mom protests. "We talked about this. We want you guys to have the bedrooms."

"It's really okay," Luke insists. "I can sleep anywhere."

Lucy nods. "He's telling the truth. That kind of stuff doesn't bother him."

Mom looks horrified. "I can't ask, I want you to be comfortable, we already talked—"

"You did say we have options, right?"

Mom pauses, then starts to laugh. "Touche!"

Luke looks at me and Pam. "I definitely wouldn't sleep well at night asking you guys to give up your rooms."

Mom takes a few steps closer to him. "Are you sure?"

Pam and I start laughing. "She's using Soul on you," I tell him, holding back a laugh.

Luke's staring back at Mom. "Soul?" I can tell he's trying to be polite but is probably a little uncomfortable with Mom standing so close scrutinizing him.

"It's when you look deep into someone's eyes and they repeat what they're saying that's been put into question, and then you can really tell if they're telling the truth or not."

"Ohhhh. In that case." Luke turns his gaze back to Mom. He lowers his voice. "I'm really okay sleeping on the couch."

Mom stares back at him, knits her brows together, smiles and steps back. "Okay, he's telling the truth."

"I wake up early anyway, so it's okay. Everyone else can sleep in if they want to."

Mom shakes her head. "You are just as thoughtful as Lucy said you are."

Luke's cheeks turn red.

"Well, in that case, you can drop the bags right here." Mom points to the living room and Pam and I start laughing again because Luke walks quickly but not too quickly over to a corner of the room behind the couch and gently drops the bags on the floor.

"They do look heavy," I say sympathetically.

Luke nods gratefully. "I didn't want to say it, but they are."

Lucy adds her bags to the pile and realizes the three of us are staring. "You're probably wondering why we brought so many bags for a two-week visit."

Mom crosses her arms. "I didn't want to say it, but I am."

We all start laughing, and I'm holding my abs, because part of me can't believe we were thinking the same thing, and it is kind of funny that they brought so much stuff.

Lucy and Luke pick up the cloth bags and Lucy holds them out to us. "Most of these bags aren't for us. They're for you guys."

"Presents?" Pam claps her hands together. "I knew this was going to be great!"